Appliance Repair · Service

Dryer repair — start at the vent, not the dryer

A dryer that takes three cycles to dry a load is usually a duct problem wearing a dryer costume. It is also the failure on this site with a genuine fire risk attached, which is why it leads.

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In short

What is dryer repair?

If your dryer runs but clothes come out damp, check the exhaust duct before you book anything. A restricted vent traps heat and moisture inside the machine, so it dries badly, runs hot, and eventually trips a safety device — all of which looks like a broken dryer and is not one. Restriction is also a fire hazard, because what is packed in the duct is lint. Only after the vent is proven clear does it make sense to suspect the heating element, the gas igniter, or the drum drive.

Triggers

Signs you need dryer repair

Loads need two or three cycles to dry, and the machine used to manage one
The top of the dryer, the door glass or the laundry room itself gets noticeably hot while it runs
You cannot feel strong airflow at the outdoor vent hood while the machine is running, or the flap never opens
Clothes come out hot but still damp — heat is being made, not carried away
A burning or hot-lint smell during or just after a cycle
Loud thumping, squealing or a rhythmic scraping that tracks with drum rotation

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The job

How dryer repair actually works

The exhaust duct, before anything is priced

A technician who knows this appliance starts at the wall. The whole run gets checked — the flexible transition behind the machine, the rigid duct through the wall or roof, the bends, the length, and the outdoor hood flap. Crushed foil transition ducts behind a pushed-back dryer, and hoods stuck shut with lint or a bird nest, are both extremely common.

Watch for: A part quoted before the duct has been inspected end to end. Replacing a fuse or element on a restricted vent gets you a working dryer for a few weeks and the same call again.
Airflow and lint, treated as a safety issue

Lint accumulates over the whole run, not just at the screen, and packs tightest at bends and at the hood. That is combustible material in a hot air path. Cleaning is done with brushes and a vacuum along the full length, and the fix often includes swapping flexible foil transition duct for smooth rigid metal.

Watch for: Plastic or vinyl transition duct. It is not permitted for dryer exhaust in most jurisdictions, it collapses behind the machine, and it is exactly the material you do not want holding lint in a heat path.
No heat at all — electric versus gas

The two machines fail differently. An electric dryer makes heat with a resistive element on a dedicated 240-volt supply, and it can lose half its supply and still tumble without heating — which is why a tripped half-breaker imitates a dead element perfectly. A gas dryer heats with an igniter, a gas valve and a flame sensor, and the igniter is the usual culprit. The two need different diagnoses and sometimes different technicians.

Watch for: An electric dryer that tumbles but never heats being quoted an element without the breaker and supply being tested. Both legs of the 240-volt circuit have to be live.
Thermal fuses and thermostats — the symptom, not the disease

Every dryer has one-shot thermal safety devices designed to cut power when the cabinet overheats. When one opens, it has done its job. Replacing it restores the machine, and if nothing else changes it will open again, because the overheating that blew it is still there. The fuse is nearly always downstream of restricted airflow.

Watch for: A fuse replaced with no vent work and no explanation of why it blew. Ask directly what caused it. If the answer is "they just go", find someone else.
Drum rollers, belts, glides and bearings

Mechanical noise is its own category and has nothing to do with heat. Worn rollers grind, a snapped belt leaves the motor running with a stationary drum, and worn glides let the drum scrape the bulkhead. Cheap parts, labour-heavy to reach, so a good technician replaces the wear set together rather than one item at a time.

Watch for: One roller replaced on a machine where the others are equally worn. You pay the same disassembly labour again in a few months for the sake of a small parts saving.

Money

What does dryer repair cost?

Vent cleaning is the cheapest thing you can buy for a dryer and often the only thing needed. Igniters, thermal fuses, belts and rollers are modest parts, though labour reflects the strip-down to reach them. Confirm whether the diagnostic charge is deducted from the final bill.

See the full dryer repair cost guide — by material, size and region →

Straight answer

When dryer repair is the wrong call

Everyone else ranking for this is paid when you say yes. Here's when you shouldn't.

The real fault is the duct, not the dryer. The commonest wrong call on this page is paying a repair bill for a machine that is fine. Prove the vent is clear first; sometimes there is no repair to buy.
The drum, bulkhead or cabinet has rusted through. Rust holes snag and mark laundry, and there is no economic repair for a corroded drum. Everything else on the machine has lived in the same damp air.
The same thermal fuse has blown more than once. Do not buy a third fuse. Buy a vent inspection and, if the run is genuinely too long or too convoluted, a re-route — the machine is not the problem.
It is a compact vented unit or a stacked laundry centre with a failed motor or control. Access alone eats the budget, and the paired washer is the same age, so you are repairing half of a machine you will replace whole.
You have no viable exhaust route at all. If the run cannot be made short and straight enough, no repair fixes drying performance. That is a case for a ventless dryer — a purchase decision, not a service call.
A gas dryer with a suspect gas valve on an old machine. Gas-side parts plus certified labour on a machine near the end of its life is where the arithmetic usually stops working.

Straight answer

Can I do this myself?

Lint packed into a dryer duct is combustible material sitting in the hottest air path in your house. If you smell burning lint, if the cabinet is too hot to touch, or if a safety device has cut the machine off mid-cycle, stop using the dryer until the duct has been cleared and inspected — do not simply restart it and carry on.

Reasonable to DIY

Cleaning the lint screen every single load, and washing it occasionally if fabric softener has glazed it over
Pulling the dryer out and checking the transition duct is not crushed, kinked or disconnected
Going outside while the dryer runs to confirm the vent hood flap opens and air is genuinely moving
Clearing lint, nesting material and debris from the outdoor hood
Checking the breaker on an electric dryer when it tumbles but does not heat — a 240-volt circuit can lose one leg

Call a licensed pro

Any gas dryer work — igniter, gas valve, flame sensor or a gas smell. This is licensed territory and not a parts-swap exercise
Heating element replacement, which means opening a cabinet carrying a 240-volt supply
Repeated thermal fuse failures, where the fix is diagnosing the airflow, not fitting another fuse
Full duct runs through walls, ceilings or roofs, or any run you cannot see the whole of
Drum roller, belt and bearing work on machines that need the cabinet split to reach them

Before you sign

What to check when hiring for dryer repair

Will you inspect the full vent run, or only the machine?

It is the difference between fixing the fault and replacing the part that the fault destroyed. Some shops do appliances only and do not touch ductwork.
If a thermal fuse or thermostat has opened, what made it open?

A safety device that operated has a cause. "They just fail" is the answer that guarantees you a repeat visit.
Is my machine gas or electric, and are you qualified for that side of it?

Gas dryers involve a gas valve and combustion. Not every appliance technician works on gas, and you want that established when you book.
Is the diagnostic fee waived or credited if I approve the repair on the visit?

On an appliance this cheap the call-out is a big share of the total, and asking up front is what keeps a small repair small.
While the cabinet is open, will you replace the wear set rather than the single failed part?

Rollers, belt and glides wear together and share the same disassembly labour. Doing them once is far cheaper than doing them twice.

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Local pros

Dryer Repair near you

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Related work

Often done at the same time

Washer Repair

Drain, balance and bearing faults

Oven and Range Repair

The other gas-or-electric appliance

Microwave Repair

Over-the-range units and ventilation

Appliance Installation

240V circuits, gas connectors and duct routing

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FAQ

Dryer Repair — questions people ask

Still have a question? Talk to our team →

My dryer runs but the clothes are still wet. What is wrong?

If the machine is producing heat, the fault is almost always that moist air cannot get out. Check the lint screen, then the transition duct behind the machine, then the outdoor hood while the dryer is running — you should feel strong warm airflow. A dryer removes water by carrying it away; block the path and the load stays wet no matter how much heat the machine makes.

How do I know if my dryer vent is blocked?

Four indicators, any of which is enough. Drying times have crept up over months. The outdoor hood flap barely moves or does not open. The laundry room gets hot and humid while the machine runs. And loads come out hot but damp. If the duct run is long, has several elbows, or exits through the roof, treat blockage as the leading suspect rather than a possibility.

My dryer keeps blowing its thermal fuse. Why?

Because the fuse is doing exactly what it was designed to do. It is a one-shot device that cuts power when the cabinet overheats, and the overwhelming cause of that overheating is restricted airflow. Fitting a new fuse without clearing the vent restores the dryer for a short while and then repeats. If you have replaced one twice, stop buying fuses and get the whole duct run inspected.

My electric dryer tumbles but makes no heat. Is the element dead?

Maybe, but check the breaker first. An electric dryer runs on a 240-volt circuit made of two legs, and the motor only needs one of them. Lose the other and the drum turns happily while nothing heats. A tripped or partially failed double-pole breaker imitates a dead heating element precisely, and it costs nothing to rule out before anyone opens the machine.

How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?

There is no single right interval — it depends on the run length, the number of bends, how much you dry, and whether the duct is smooth or corrugated. The reliable trigger is performance: when drying times creep up, the duct is telling you. Long runs and roof terminations need it far more often than a short straight run.